Tips To Help You Avoid Multitasking

To work efficiently and productively we need to focus on a single task and avoid multitasking as much as possible. 

So if doing several things at once lessens our efficiency and productivity, why are there so many women entrepreneurs who still love multitasking? Because according to this study, people who multitask, feel more emotionally satisfied, even if they're actually not being productive.

If you’re someone who can juggle emailing, answering phones and writing a blog then, you too would feel like you were able to accomplish more. In fact from the outside, multitaskers seem very efficient and productive. But in actuality, overall quality and quantity of output decreases.

So to stop the inner juggler in you, here are 3 simple things you may want to implement:

1.       When working online, only open one browser and one tab at a time. Yes, that is right – only one open tab and a single browser. This strategy will help tackle things one at a time. So if you need to answer emails, schedule social media posts and write a blog post, you need to decide which task you should work on first. 

2.       Write down a short to-do list. Every evening, take time to write down the things that you want to get done the next day. Knowing in advance what tasks need you most attention will save you time the next morning. It will also stop you from working on one task to the next without finishing the one you started first.

3.       Take a short break or move work location. Taking a short break – water break, pee break, or just closing your eyes for 3 minutes after you’ve done one straight hour of phone answering will help reboot your brain before you focus on the next task on your list. 

If short breaks don’t work, you can move work location. Get up from your office desk, get your laptop and find a comfortable seat on the couch before you work on your next task. 

Note: Listening to music isn’t considered a task. There’s a special part of the brain for music. So you can listen to music all you want while doing other things.  In fact, in most cases, music enhance focus and increases productivity.

Over to you..

How about you? Do you multi-task? When working in front of a computer, do you have a mechanism in place to help keep distractions on the web at the minimal? What do you do to make sure you don’t multitask? 

Please share your ideas and comments below.